It has been a week since I last posted here due to various things in my personal life and it’s been a bit of a strange period for Aston Villa during that time.
We dropped points last weekend against Bournemouth in the Premier League, and then our departure from the Carabao Cup followed our defeat at Crystal Palace at Villa Park last night. Not what we have become accustomed to in recent times, is it?
It is no secret that the money the Champions League brings makes that a priority for the club. If we can qualify for a second year in a row, who knows where this club could go, but for a football fan, questions will be asked.
Aston Villa have not won silverware since 1996 and when the manager and many players talk about winning silverware, you have to question team selections. Some will rightly argue that the XI that were named last night need to be doing better but the lack of experienced options named amongst the substitutes bench last night tells me where the club’s priorities lie and they don’t lie in the Carabao Cup.
I chose to stay away last night, partly due to work commitments but another part of me knew a weakened side would be named and then there’s the other side. Why should fans care when the club doesn’t?
You can look at the positives of last night also. Boubacar Kamara and Tyrone Mings both started and finished a game for the first time in a long time and to be fair to both, they both gave a good account of themselves.
Fringe players need game time and last night they were handed exactly that. Some will give the manager more to think about when naming his starting line-up against Tottenham on Sunday while others won’t.
The players who have been playing in all competitions so far this season were given rest when Spurs opted to pick a full-strength side in their win over Manchester City last night. There can be no excuses come the weekend and should Villa pick up all three points, this week will just be a distant memory.
Bournemouth striker Evanilson scored an equaliser with the last kick of the ball to give them a share of the points that stunned Villa Park last Saturday.
Mark Travers was the real hero of the day for the visitors though. The Irish goalkeeper, in for the injured Kepa Arrizabalaga, denied Amadou Onana and Ezri Konsa in the opening forty-five minutes. VAR helped the visitors when John McGinn’s opener was ruled out when Ollie Watkins thought he had kept the ball in play in the build-up.
Travers was back to his best in the second half, this time denying Pau Torres and Ollie Watkins.
Villa did eventually take the lead through Ross Barkley with 14 minutes to go which looked certain to secure all three points for Villa but it wasn’t to be.
Crystal Palace ran out 2-1 winners at Villa Park last night as Villa were knocked out of the Carabao Cup.
Eberechi Eze gave the Eagles the lead after 8 minutes when he headed past Joe Gauci who came in for the rested Emi Martinez. Palace then lost both Eze and Adam Wharton to injury with manager Oliver Glasner later stating he is more worried about Eze with Wharton most likely being available for the weekend.
Villa were back level through Jhon Duran after 23 minutes as the home side grew into the game without looking a real threat.
The second half was a dull afair and it took an error from Diego Carlos to allow Daichi Kamada to fire past Gauci and put the visitors name in the hat for the next round.
As i stated earlier, it has been a week to forget but one that will be forgiven if they can go on and secure all three points against Tottenham on Sunday.
